Synopsis
by Josh Ralske

Rana (Clara Khoury) is a young Palestinian woman, living in Jerusalem. Her father (Zuher Fahoum) is moving to Egypt, and he knows that Rana does not want to go with him. He thinks she's too young to get married, but he gives her a choice; she can go with him, or she can marry one of the men on a list he's compiled of acceptable bachelors. On the morning of her father's departure, Rana sneaks out of the house and goes to meet Khalil (Khalifa Natour), the man she loves, as they had arranged. But a bombing the night before has kept Khalil from coming to Jerusalem, so Rana has to navigate a treacherous bureaucratic labyrinth of checkpoints and armed guards to reach Khalil at the theater where he works in Ramallah. When she finally gets there, her troubles are far from over. Her plan is for Khalil to marry her, but because she's underage, they find they need her father's permission. Together with Khalil's friend, Ramzy (Ismael Dabbag), the couple must drive back to Jerusalem, pick up the registrar to officiate, and convince her father to let her marry Khalil. As the deadline grows closer -- her father is taking an afternoon flight -- Rana ponders her decision to marry and to stay in Jerusalem, and wonders whether or not she's doing the right thing. Rana's Wedding was written and directed by Hany Abu-Assad, who also made the 2002 documentary Ford Transit. Both films were shown at the 2003 Human Rights Watch International Film Festival, where Abu-Assad was awarded the Nestor Almendros Prize for courage in filmmaking.